Sir Winston Churchill High School
If I could go back to my high school and report on what the most important things that I learned are since graduating fifty years ago, what would I say?
I’d say three things. First I’d acknowledge that the greatest and most valuable thing I’ve learned since graduation is the true nature and value of love.
When the inner tsunami of love swept past me, I remember saying to myself, “Oh, THIS is what they’re talking about!” The torrent of love (temporarily) washed away my ego and issues (washed me clean in the River Jordan?). I realized I’d never loved till then.
And now, even though this experience in its fullness has departed, I’m left with the certain knowledge of what love really is. And experiencing wisps of that energetic river that transforms everything it touches. Like a tap of the Fairy Godmother’s wand in Cinderella, it makes everything sparkle.
What else would I say in the short time available?
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
I’d explain that passage as I understand it and as Jesus explained it to me on An Hour with an Angel.
Translated that phrase means the “I,” the Self, the Christ, the Atman is the way. I asked Jesus who the “I” was.
Steve Beckow: Jan Ruusbroec in the Middle Ages once described the Christ, and he said this.
“In this darkness an incomprehensible light is born and shines forth; this is the Son of God in whom a person becomes able to see and contemplate eternal life.” (1)
“It is Christ, the light of truth, who says, ‘See,’ and it is through him that we are able to see, for he is the light of the Father, without which there is no light in heaven or on Earth.” (2)
Is that Light [that you are] indeed the Christ in its essential form?
Jesus: It is the Christed Light, yes. You are correct. In its fullest form. …
SB: And when you say, “I am the Light,” who is “I am”? Are you speaking as Jesus or are you speaking as the Christ, as the Light?
J: No, I am speaking as the Light. (3)
He could not be clearer. Thus, the Light, the “I,” the Christ is the way, not the man.
My last piece of advice then, from fifty years on, would be to focus on this same Self continuously (4) or, if that isn’t practical, from time to time dive deep enough into your heart that you find it – the pearl of great price, the mustard seed that grows into a great tree.
It lies at the “seat of the soul,” which is to say, in the depths of the heart. (5) Krishna tells us:
“Fools pass blindly by the place of my dwelling
Here in the human form, and of my majesty
They know nothing at all,
Who am the Lord, their soul.” (6)
Other sages tell us that as well. They tell us that the Self is to be found in the heart, but do we believe them? Do we take them seriously? I know I didn’t.
Keep focusing on this treasure that actually is buried in the field of the heart. That’s the “way” that Jesus taught, I think.
Following the trail of the ever-expanding Self in the heart, in my view, will lead us to the One, which is the Truth of existence. That One that is everything and no thing is the “Truth” that Jesus taught.
We’re already immortal, ascended or not, but Ascension will lift us above the need to die and be reborn again. This is the “life” that Jesus pointed at, I believe.
Once on the Fifth, Buddha might say that we dismounted the wheel of birth and death. This is the life that Jesus wanted us to have more abundantly if we focused on the “I,” the Self; i.e., followed the Christ.
Follow it inwards. Follow it downwards. Dive deep into the well of the heart.
Is there anything else that need be said? I don’t think so. Love and the Christ-Self – for me, these two are the alpha and the omega, the way, the truth, and the life. Without them, there is no life at all.
Footnotes
(1) John Ruusbroec in James A. Wiseman, John Ruusbroec. The Spiritual Espousals and Other Works. New York, etc.: Paulist Press, 1985, 22.
(2) Ibid., 74.
(3) “Transcript of an Hour with an Angel, with Jesus, Jan. 16, 2012,” at https://goldenageofgaia.com/ascension-as-of-2012/the-masters-speak/transcript-of-an-hour-with-an-angel-with-jesus-jan-16-2012/.
Compare the Arcturian Group:
“’I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light.’ – words not spoken simply by and for the master Jesus, but words spoken by him in order to explain to those listening that ‘I’ is not a personal ‘I,’ but ‘I’ is the Divine – the one and only ‘I’ – your true identity. Since the Divine is all there is, it must also your real Self – how else could you exist?
“’I’ is the name of the Divine and the words ‘I AM”’do not refer to one human being, but to the true essence of every being. ‘I’ is a sacred word. Throughout time and even now, there are those who through gross ignorance and ego, have misinterpreted this truth to mean that they in their humanhood were God.
“In this false sense of self they always proceed to set up rules and teachings for others with dire consequences if not obeyed. Their spiritually-ignorant followers more often than not do experience dire consequences of some sort, for in their choice to follow these false prophets they willingly give away their power.” (“The Arcturian Group Message via Marilyn Raffaele: October 13, 2013” at https://goldenageofgaia.com/2013/10/the-arcturian-group-message-via-marilyn-raffaele-october-13-2013/.)
(4) “Patiently, little by little, a man must free himself from all mental distractions, with the aid of the intelligent will. He must fix his mind upon the Atman [the Self, the Christ], and never think of anything else. No matter where the restless mind wanders, it must be drawn back and made to submit to the Atman only.” (Sri Krishna in ibid., 66.)
(5) Take your imagination through the heart aperture (or hridayam) and dive down, down, down. Imagination on the Fifth Dimension is creative thought. Imagine yourself diving.
(6) Sri Krishna in Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, trans., Bhagavad-Gita. The Song of God. New York and Scarborough: New American Library, 1972; c1944, 81.
“There in the ignorant heart … I dwell.” (Sri Krishna, ibid., 87.)
“The devoted … know Him always/There in the heart,/Where action is not.” (Sri Krishna, ibid., 59.)
“He abides in the hearts of all.” (Paramahansa Ramakrishna in Swami Nikhilananda, trans., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1978; c1942, 375.)
“Here, within this body, in the pure mind, in the secret chamber of intelligence, in the infinite universe within the heart, the Atman [I, Self, Christ] shines in its captivating splendour, like a noonday sun. “(Shankara in Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher lsherwood, Shankara’s Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. Hollywood: Vedanta Press, 1975; c1947, 53.)
“The ancient, effulgent being, in-dwelling Spirit, [is] deep-hidden in the lotus of the heart.” (Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester, trans., The Upanishads. Breath of the Eternal. New York and Scarborough: New American Library, 1957; c1948, 17.)